Piyush Pandey was an irony. While many allow the grind of life to wear away their curiosity and joy, he seemed to grow more alive with age, seeing the world with a child’s wonder and an adult’s purpose as he went from playing state-level cricket for Rajasthan to becoming Indian advertising’s most celebrated storyteller.

That’s what yours truly gleaned at a Sunday gathering celebrating his life. Some of Indian advertising’s biggest names were there, along with Ogilvy’s longstanding clients, to remember him and what he meant to them. Stories flowed like the bubbly does on special occasions.

It turns out that Piyush loved calling people between six and seven in the morning, sometimes for work, sometimes to tell a joke. You had to laugh; when you did was up to you.

McCann Worldgroup CEO and

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